1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparel fasteners, and more particularly, to snap type fasteners.
2. Description of the Related Art
Related-art fasteners for material, such as apparel, clothing, sportswear, outdoor gear, fabrics, coverings, textiles, and so on include, snaps. Snaps generally include a stud and a portion to receive the stud and thereby fasten material.
The inventor named herein (xe2x80x9cinventorxe2x80x9d) has noticed deficiencies and/or unmet needs associated with related-art snap studs, a few of which will now be set forth (other related-art deficiencies and/or unmet needs will become apparent in the detailed description below).
The inventor has discovered that it would be advantageous for a snap stud to be attached to material without a requirement of first producing a hole in the material prior to attachment of the snap stud. The inventor has discovered that attachment of related-art snap studs to material conversely requires a hole to be first made in the material before one of the related-art snap studs is attached to the material. The inventor has thus recognized that a need exists in the art for snap studs that can be attached to material without need of first making a hole in the material prior to attachment of the snap stud.
The inventor has discovered that it would be advantageous for a snap stud to have an outside surface that is substantially unaffected as to how the snap stud is attached to the material. The inventor has discovered that attachment of related-art snap studs can affect one or more outside surfaces and consequently, the relative appearance of the snap studs. The inventor has thus recognized that a need exists in the art for a snap stud that can be attached to material without being substantially affected by how the snap stud is attached to the material.
The foregoing-described inventor discoveries constitute at least a part of the inventive content herein.
In one embodiment, a system includes but is not limited to: a pin including a shaft portion and a head portion, the shaft portion including a first end portion, a second end portion, and a longitudinal length, the head portion being adjacent the first end portion of the shaft portion, the second end portion of the shaft portion including a tip portion that is substantially pointed to pierce a material when the pin is in an unaltered state and that is substantially blunt when the pin is in an altered state; a receiver including a pin enclosure portion and a backing portion, the pin enclosure portion having first and second end portions, the first end portion having an opening and the second end portion being enclosed by a top portion, the opening so sized to receive the shaft portion of the pin, the pin enclosure portion having a longitudinal axis, the top portion of the receiver having a hardness so selected to change the pin from the unaltered state to the altered state when the tip portion of the pin is forced against the top portion, the top portion having a protrusion portion, the top portion so shaped that the protrusion portion moves from an un-extended position to an extended position in one or more directions away from the longitudinal axis of the pin enclosure portion when the pin is forced against the top portion and changed from the unaltered state to the altered state; and a stud including a stud top portion and a backing enclosure portion, the stud top portion having an opening so sized to receive the pin enclosure portion when its protrusion portion is in the un-extended position, the stud top portion having an internal surface so sized to fixedly engage with the pin enclosure portion when the protrusion portion is in the extended position, the backing enclosure portion so sized and positioned with respect to the stud top portion to receive the backing portion of the receiver when the stud top portion has received at least a portion of the pin enclosure portion of the receiver.
The foregoing is a summary and thus contains, by necessity, simplifications, generalizations and omissions of detail; consequently, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the summary is illustrative only and is NOT intended to be in any way limiting. Other aspects, inventive features, and advantages of the devices and/or processes described herein, as defined solely by the claims, will become apparent in the non-limiting detailed description set forth herein.